Contents

Synopsis

Ishimaru is the Devil Bats' second running back, and is often called normal and plain due to him having no significant features or techniques. Ishimaru was recruited from the track team by Sena who took over half of his paper route for him. He played in the Koigahama match, but was injured due to Sena being unable to discern between the types of cleats. Ishimaru continued to play for the Devil Bats, even though no one notices his presence in the team. However, his obscurity plays to his advantage when playing since no one notices when he is handed the ball. Many teams curse to themselves in front of him after the play, usually saying that, "he has no presence," or that, "We didn't notice him". He's the track and field captain, which is why Hiruma usually refers to him as "Track Star".

Ishimaru often acts as a fullback, blocking for Sena on screen passes and other trick plays. When he actually learns that Sena is Eyeshield 21, he foams at the mouth and "breaks". Like Yukimitsu, Ishimaru also grows out his hair, but no one seems to notice. He is referred to as the Stealth Running Back, Shadowless God Of Death, or just "plain" Ishimaru. He is such a pushover, that he's willing to go with anything that happens around him. His catchphrase is, "It's alright."

One interesting thing to note is that Ishimaru has an American look-a-like named Jimmy Simard ("Jim I-Shimaru" the name itself being a play on words of Ishimaru's nickname ("地味 石丸" Plain Ishimaru ). Sena mistakes Jimmy for Ishimaru during the tryout with the San Antonio Armadillos. Jimmy actually made the cut for the pros, despite some bullies' cheating and foul tactics, thanks to Eyeshield 21's help.

Ishimaru’s importance came in to play during the game of Deimon Devil Bats against Kyoshin Poseidon. In order to overcome their opponent’s height and extreme long reach, he was included as one of the runners for one of Hiruma’s trickiest strategies: Wish Bone.

In the match against Ojo, when Ikari sacked Hiruma, Hiruma was able to throw a short pass towards Ishimaru seconds before the quarterback got sacked, however, Ishimaru only managed to run 1 yard before Shin tackled him.

During match with Hakushū dinosaurs, because of his position, he became one from two Hiruma's choice for quarterback replacements, before Sena volunteering himself.

In the anime, Ishimaru learned of Eyeshield 21's identity when his track team was in trouble for the finals at the Relay Races. Ishimaru was planning on leaving the football club, but thanks to Sena volunteering to be the third man in the race, Deimon's Track Team won. Seeing Sena run without his helmet confirmed his identity as Eyeshield 21 and in gratitude, Ishimaru decided to stay with the Devil Bats until the end of the Tournament.

In the match against Teikoku, he is the one who carries the ball at the beginning of the game. Just as a group of the Alexander's line is about to catch him, he reveals that he has been taught the Rodeo Drive from Riku of the Seibu team, thus allowing him to beat two of the Alexander's players before he was knocked out of bounds by Yamato. It is revealed that he did the hard training with Riku in order to help prove that he is more than just a replacement player on the team and that he is a true Deimon Devil Bat to everyone including himself.

Techniques and Strategies

Insubstantial: Due to Ishimaru's lack of "presence" he can often make long runs or catch passes out of the backfield without the opposing team noticing until it's too late.

Rodeo Drive: In preparation for the Christmas Bowl, Ishimaru trained with Riku Kaitani of Seibu, learning his running style to improve on his own track-honed speed.

Trivia

Ishimaru has a family of brothers and sisters that are just as plain as him.

Ishimaru was one of the last members of the Devil Bats that found out that Sena was Eyeshield 21 other than Mamori.

Ishimaru paired up with Yukimitsu and Komusubi on the Deimon School Festival to make "Team Boring", who actually won the festival to everyone's surprise.﻿